President Donald Trump’s top spokesperson called for former first lady Jill Biden to speak up about former President Joe Biden’s alleged mental decline, saying she conspired to keep her husband’s health from the American people.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comment on May 29 – that Jill Biden should address “when she saw and what she knew” – came in response to a reporter’s question on whether the former first lady should testify to Congress about the former Democratic president’s health.
“I think anybody looking again at the videos and photo evidence of Joe Biden with your own eyes and a little bit of common sense can see that this was a clear coverup,” Leavitt responded. “And Jill Biden was certainly complicit in that coverup.”
More: Robert Hur defends characterization of Biden’s memory in testimony to Congress: Recap
Aides close to President Biden and his wife did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the growing calls from the Trump White House. The 82-year old Democrat announced last week that he’d been diagnosed with an “aggressive” Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Questions around the president’s mental capacity reached a fevered pitch when former Special Counsel Robert Hur released a report in early 2024 about Biden mishandling classified documents after his time as vice president concluded in the Obama White House. Hur concluded that a potential criminal jury would find Biden to be a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”
Biden’s performance during a June presidential debate with then-Republican nominee Donald Trump also raised questions about the Democrats’ well-being, and he ultimately dropped out of the White House race in deference to then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Trump White House’s focus on Biden echoes criticism from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer. The Kentucky Republican has asked several high-ranking Biden administration officials and his physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, to appear for transcribed interviews to “uncover the truth” about Biden’s “mental decline and potential unauthorized use of an autopen for sweeping pardons and other executive actions.
Letters seeking testimony have been sent to staffers including former senior adviser to the first lady Anthony Bernal, former Domestic Policy Council Director Neera Tanden and former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini.
Comer said during the last Congress that the Biden White House obstructed his committee’s investigation into the president’s mental capacity and refused to make aides available for depositions or interviews. “The American people demand transparency and accountability now,” Comer said in a statement.
According to a new book, Original Sin, written by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson, one person familiar with workings of the administration said Biden was only one of five people running the country.
During her May 29 briefing at the White House, Leavitt claimed there was documentary evidence showing Jill Biden was shielding her husband from public scrutiny.
“She’s still lying to the American people. She still thinks the American public are so stupid that they’re going to believe her lies,” said Leavitt. “And frankly, it’s insulting, and she needs to answer for it.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Leavitt blasts Jill Biden over husband’s health ‘coverup’
